sugar magnolia

Do you remember that episode of Freaks & Geeks where the hippie guidance counselor gives Lindsay his copy of American Beauty by the Grateful Dead and she's walking through the lunch room when the table of high school Dead Heads stop her and one of them says, "I wish I never heard it, just so that I could hear it again for the first time." I was watching that episode with my boyfriend a couple of months ago. At that line he bursts out laughing and then looks at me as if to say, "I bet that's how my girlfriend feels." I laughed at it but deep down inside I was just like YESSSSS. I watched Freaks & Geeks for the first time back in, I'm not even sure, 8th grade I think. I was on a church retreat and we didn't have anything to do so we just watched the show. It was my first exposure to the Grateful Dead and I immediately was captured by their music. Several months ago I was having a hard time with things going on in my life and decided to revisit American Beauty. Listening to it in that moment, after so long of just even forgetting about the Dead, was so beautiful and so freeing. It's in that same episode where Lindsay puts the record on and starts dancing to it, just playing it over and over again. And that was me. I deny being a Dead Head. My boyfriend tries to prod a confession out of me constantly (you should have seen his reaction to when I bought a Grateful Dead blanket a few months ago) and even my parents have called me a Dead Head from time to time. The boyfriend and I were at Succotash not all that long ago and he found a copy of American Beauty on vinyl there, trying to tempt me into buying it. I resisted, knowing that purchasing it would have been a validation of my fondness for the Dead and more so, for that album. But, with all this being said, I'm going to stop hiding and let the world know, yes, I love the Grateful Dead. They have gotten me through some rough times and I will admit that they are my go to band when the times are bad. And yes, I have a Grateful Dead blanket. And yes, I'm pretty sure that Brokedown Palace or Ripple are probably my most listened to songs. So, now that I've gotten that off my chest, I can name this post after another great song from the Dead, fully embrace my love for them in the future of this blog, and urge everyone to give American Beauty a listen if they're having a bad day. I'm not gonna tell you that it'll change your life or anything, but....I mostly agree with the Dead Heads in the cafeteria on Freaks & Geeks.


Now that I've gotten that all off my chest (feelin' pretty good about it, too!), we can move forth. I only have a couple more weeks left before I start my second internship & will be wearing professional wear 5 times a week, so I decided to use that time to wear cut offs, crop tops, and old flannel. The cold weather is quickly setting in, so time is short for this type of wear, regardless of whether or not I'll be stuck working in an office.


I'm wearing my hieroglyphic crop top from Sway Chic which I wore a couple of weeks ago here. I love this crop! I can't wait till summer to wear it. Sway Chic has LOADS of awesome crop tops. This is my fourth from there alone. Guilty as charged. I'm also wearing my usual flannel from Land's End which I've been wearing since I was like what, 15? Same with the usual cut offs. But, I'm excited to show off this new open cardigan from The Loft. Okay, well it's new to me. It's actually from the second hand store but so soft and cozy and warm! It'll be keeping me warm all winter long, I already know it. It also gets loads of little fuzzies all over my clothes and in my mouth, so I'll be digesting bits of it all winter long, too.






Here I am already with a jacket on between shots (this was a test shot) - winter isn't far off! I've been looking back on some old posts from last autumn to see what I was wearing this time last year since I've been struggling with not getting drab as the weather does. Going through these old posts has been inspiring me to get back into blogging, so here I am and we'll see how it goes! I'm currently hard at work getting my life back under control after a couple of months of dealing pretty much full-time with a close friend's substance abuse issues. I lost between 5 - 8 pounds in that time, my hair has gotten all gross, and my skin went haywire from the stress. I'll be blogging about my weight gain routine as soon as I start getting it under control, so I'm very excited! In the past I've tried to keep this as sort of a "lifestyle blog" and I'll try to get back into that.

Anyways, I'm off to have a girl's night by myself! I think I'm going to do a face mask, paint my nails, watch romantic comedies (like, the good ones with Cary Grant and such), and eat junk food. Ah Friday, what a wonderful day.